Secret Episode Alpha: Duobus Contritos

Secret Episode 1 of 3.

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One Body, One Mind, One Heart, One Light

One Body, One Mind, One Heart, One Darkness.

One Soul.

One Choice.

 

 

 

 

The Battle Of Aequo

 

 

 

            Nathan starred at Ember, anger still boiling in his eyes.  But then his rage began to fade.  Then he looked at her, then looked up at the sky, then his whole world started spinning.  He started to fall forward, and then everything went black.  Everything felt like a blur.  He couldn’t see or feel anything, but he could hear echoes off in the distance as things seemed to be moving slowly.  As the darkness continued to envelop him, he felt as if he was being twisted and strewn about.  He felt a strange sensation across his body as if he was being placed in a vat of goo.  Soon, it started to feel natural to him.  This was the only sensation he could feel.  But then as if his eyes were opened, a spiral akin to that of his mask appeared before him and began spinning.  As it did, Nathan felt as if his body was being dragged into a deep pit.  The colors continued to flash as he fell even deeper into the pit.

 

 

After the War

Atlesian Transport Ship

Somewhere Above the Wilderness

 

 

 

            As the airship continued to make its way through the sky, the few guards on board continued to twiddle their thumbs.

            “Couldn’t they have the androids do this?” one of them groaned.

            “General isn’t taking any chances until the tech boys make sure that the Order is fully out of our system” another guard piped up.  “This is twice now that the enemy has taken over our technology.  And given how important this particular prisoner is, it’d be a real bad idea to leave him in the care of machines that can so easily be controlled and turn him over to the enemy.”

            “But what if he wakes up?  I mean, he’s one of the legendary warriors of the Battle of Vytal.  What makes you think we even stand a chance against this guy?”

            “He’s not waking up.  Besides, that medical tank is being pumped with a sedative to keep him from going crazy if he does wake up.  I’d be surprised if he had the strength to even lift a finger if he did wake up.”

            “The dude faked being dead, his sister actually WAS dead, and he apparently absorbed the power of a god.  I’m not putting anything past him at this point.”

            “Fair enough.  But again, that all depends on him waking up, if he ever wakes up.”

 

 

 

 

            Nathan felt like he was falling.  Falling into the depths of a pit that had no bottom.  His entire body was simply weightless, floating in the abyss.  Suddenly, he started to approach what appeared to be the bottom.  And that bottom was a perfectly flat mirror.  It didn’t look like much at first, but it became clear as he grew closer that this was his reflection beneath him.  He finally touched down on the mirror, got down on one knee, and looked deep into his own reflection.  However, he noticed something off almost instantly.  His reflection was wearing the clothes that he wore when he was a student.  His old Huntsman outfit.  He looked over his own body outside of his reflection, and he was wearing the armor of Tenebris.  He kept looking back and forth between himself and his own reflection.  At first, he thought nothing of it.  But the more he looked at his younger self, the more his rage grew.

            “You’re not real” he said with a growl.  “I’m the real one!”  As he said this, he started punching the mirror.  Not letting up or hesitating, he continued to punch his younger self’s reflection until his fist grew bloody and the mirror began to crack.  As he continued to punch, he noticed something strange.  While his own blood was flowing through the cracks in the mirror, other drops of blood were pouring out from the other side of the reflection, and floating upwards into the sky.

            “What do you think you’re doing?” he screamed loudly.  “You don’t have any right to exist!”  And with one last punch, the mirror shattered.  But instead of continuing to fade into nothingness, the shards of glass flew out around him and started changing.  The glass beneath his feet began to shift and change into solid ground, while the shards flying through the sky took on the forms of buildings and other pieces of architecture.  As he looked around, he realized that the shards were forming the town of Aequo in its former glory, and he was standing there, right center in the square of town.  But there was something else too.  He wasn’t alone.  He himself stood tall, with the armor of Ferish Tenebris in all of his glory.  But now, no longer did a reflection stand before him, but in the flesh beside him was Nathan Grover.

            “How….” Tenebris said moving closer to Nathan.  But before Tenebris could inspect further, Nathan punched him and sent him flying into the central fountain of the square.  Tenebris landed in the pool, and was slow to get back up.  Nathan slowly marched towards Tenebris.

            “You gave yourself to the darkness” he said with tears in his eyes.  “You’ve forsaken our family!  You led an attack against the entire world!  And I just kept silent and let you do it!”

            “So what?  You think you’re my conscious then or something?” Tenebris said stepping out of the pool.  As he did so, his tuning fork sword materialized in his hand.  “You are just another fool who thinks they can control me and make me do what they think is best!  I’m the real one!  You are just some stupid child who refuses to grow up!”

            “The only one who has us acting like a child is you!  Anima fed you everything you wanted to hear, and at the drop of a hat, you were willing to bury me deep within your heart in order to get what you wanted!”  As Nathan said this, his old clubs materialized in his hands and he took up a battle stance as well.

            “I killed you myself!” Tenebris yelled at the top of his lungs.  “I will kill you as many times as it takes until you are removed from my heart forever!”  With that, Tenebris charged forward with his sword.  Nathan parried the blow and directed Tenebris into one of the buildings surrounding the square.  When Tenebris collided with the side of the building, instead of broken bits of wood and other building pieces, shards of glass scattered with the impact.  Inside the building where Tenebris’ head was stuck, there was a black void.  There was nothing inside the buildings, they were nothing more than constructs.  Once Tenebris stood back up and pulled himself together, the glass shards re-organized themselves and fixed the hole in the building.  Tenebris charged forward again, but stopped himself just before striking, causing Nathan to stumble and leave an opening in his defense.  Nathan was prepared for a frontal assault, but Tenebris struck him in his unprotected side, causing Nathan to fall to one knee.

            “I am not some split personality or dark demon that took hold of your heart Nathan” Tenebris said kicking Nathan towards the fountain.  “I am the real you.  I am the one in control, and I am the one who truly knows the will of Ember!”

            “You may be in the driver’s seat,” Nathan said as he struggled to get up, “but you don’t know anything about Ember.  We have the same memories.  I saw what you saw.  I heard what you heard.  I felt what you felt.  And I remember everything.  Ember’s words were what woke me up.  You thought you killed me?  Nah, more like you tried to lock me up.”

            “Then go back to the hole I left you to die in!” Tenebris screamed brining his sword down.  Nathan quickly dodged the attack, and rushed Tenebris.  Nathan’s quick strikes were extremely calculated and precise.  Tenebris’ sword was great for a broader defense, but did little against attacks that covered a far wider range of openings and attacks.  However, while these attacks clearly phased him, Tenebris did not flinch or even recalibrate his balance following Nathan’s onslaught.  Tenebris then wound his arm back, and struck Nathan in the chest with his sword, sending him flying into the side of the town, creating several fractures and shards to appear upon contact.  Nathan tried to get back up, but then Tenebris grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.

            “You are weak and worthless, no more than a child holding on to foolish dreams and pathetic idealized versions of people who betrayed you.”  As he said this, Tenebris took his swords, and plunged it through Nathan’s chest.  “I am the true living embodiment of Ember’s will.  She taught me everything I need to know about this world.  She drives me to do what needs to be done.  I will do what I must in order to achieve my dream.  To bring our mentor back.”

            “You know,” Nathan said fighting through a few coughs, “I never said it was our teacher who woke me up.”  As he said this, he pointed one of his clubs at Tenebris’ chest.  Before he had any chance to react to this, Nathan closed his eyes, and poured his focus into the weapon, causing it to glow.  A split second later, it turned into one of his daughter’s tonfas, with the projectile end pointed straight at Tenebris.  Just as he realized what was happening, Nathan pulled the trigger and shot Tenebris right in the chest.  Tenebris dropped Nathan and started to stagger backwards away in pain.  His body slowly starting to disintegrate, like shards of glass falling off his body, and breaking into smaller pieces once hitting the ground.  Nathan stepped forward, his own body decaying as well from Tenebris’ attack.

            “You….you’ve killed us both” Tenebris said fighting through some coughs.  “You’d rather die completely rather than simply accept the fact that I’m right?”

            “Maybe we will die” Nathan said as he walked towards Tenebris.  “Maybe one of us will survive to take the wheel, or maybe something new will be created from our destruction.  All I know is this; my mistakes have caused the suffering of everybody I care about.  I created you because my true self was trying to fight against what I was doing.  So you came into existence.  I thought you could be a scapegoat for my actions.  But I was wrong.  I need to pay for my mistake.  And if that means I have to die, then so be it.  I won’t hurt anyone else.  You won’t hurt anyone else.  We will hurt no one else ever again.”

            “You are such a child….” Tenebris said as his body finally faded away.

            “Perhaps” Nathan said as his body continued to fade.  “But better a child than a monster.”  With that, Nathan faded away as well, leaving nothing but the fine powder of their remains to pass through the cracks in the ground of the square and into the dark abyss below.

 

 

 

            The guards were still chatting it up, when suddenly, Nathan’s medical pod started flashing, and several alarms went off.  They all leapt up and made their way towards the pod.

            “What’s happening?” one of the guards yelled.  The medical droid on board scanned him, and reported,

            “His body is shutting down.  Almost as if it is trying to destroy itself from the inside.”

            “How long does he have?”

            “Ten minutes before full cardiac shutdown.”

            “Let him die!” another guard yelled.  “He was probably going to either spend his life in jail or face execution for his crimes anyways!”

            “Not our mission!” the first guard yelled back.  “Droid!  Do what you can for him!  I’ll get him out!”  With that, the guard drained and opened the medical pod, laying Nathan down on the ground.  The droid began charging defibrillators, and prepared to try and restart his heart.

 

 

 

            The powder floated through the dark void like sand in an hourglass.  Eventually the powder started to settle on a surface in the darkness.  And the powder sat there, both the remaining essence of Nathan and Tenebris resting there.  Then, a flash of light, and a stain-glass window was revealed.  On this tapestry was both Nathan and Tenebris asleep, taking up a half of the circular window.  Then, the powder started to lift up from the ground, and join together.  With another flash of light, a new body formed on the stain glass.  It wasn’t Nathan, nor was it Tenebris.  But this being stood up slowly, his eyes closed.  Then, suddenly, his eyes shot open.

 

 

 

            Nathan’s eyes shot open, and the first thing he saw was several guards and a medical droid surrounding him.  He quickly leapt up, and tried to get his bearings.  The guards started yelling and trying to pin him down, but Nathan quickly reacted and started fighting back.  He knocked out the few guards in the back of the airship, and quickly rushed over and destroyed the medical droid before he could signal the alarm.  Nathan then made his way to the cockpit, and took out the soldiers piloting the airship.  Looking out the window, he saw that he was flying over the woods, with no civilization in sight.  He then pressed two buttons.  The first initiated the emergency landing procedure for the airship, and the second was to open the cargo doors on the back of the airship.  As the airship began to descend, Nathan went back to the cargo hold, and prepared to jump.  Looking back at his medical vat, he noticed his old clubs sitting beside the machine.  He went over to them and picked them up, holding them in his hands.  A tear rolled down the right side of his face.  He looked them over one last time, and placed them back down beside the pod.  He then ran out the cargo doors and jumped into the wilderness below.

 

 

 

One Become Two

Two Become One

A New Path Forms

Destiny is Never Left to Chance.

 

 

 

 

RETRIBUTION.

SAGA OF SEASONS

Author's Note

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